03 01AU The Smiths and Miss Jones
by NewDrWhoFan
Summary: It's "Smith and Jones" with Rose... 10Rose.
1. Inconspicuous

_Series 3 AU with Rose! This is a sequel to my stories, "The Girl in the Stalking Spaceship", "Age of Bronze", "Lantern Extinguished", "Gravity Schmavity", "Love and Monsters", "Show Her, Tell Her", "Ghost of a Chance", "Doomsday Averted", and "Runaway Bride". Wow, that list is getting long!_

_This is NOT yet a complete rewrite, but meant for those who want to re-watch the episode - with Rose._

_This is as yet un-beta'd. You have been warned._

_Disclaimer: Surprise, surprise, I don't own Doctor Who. Nor do I get anything from writing these stories-except wonderful, constructive reviews! Wink, wink; nudge, nudge ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Inconspicuous**

It had been months since they'd been back to earth. Well, not entirely true. The Doctor had taken Rose to a number of locations on earth, just not_ her_ earth. Not her time. Not since their adventure with Donna and a brief stop afterwards to salvage some keepsakes from Rose's old flat. So what had changed?

"Can we go for chips?" asked Rose.

And chips it was. Good ol' London, 2007, strolling along the Thames, arm in arm, with packets of chips from one of Rose's favorite vendors.

"Is that - ?" the Doctor stopped, staring at a rather poorly-concealed object at the corner of a building. "Is that a plasma coil?" he asked.

"Depends," said Rose at his side. "What's a plasma coil?"

He jogged over, leading Rose by the hand. "That," he said pointing. "That is definitely a plasma coil. And," he looked along the sides of the building, spotting several more in each direction, "so are those."

"What're they for?" Rose asked.

"All sorts of uses," the Doctor told her, walking towards the front of the building. Royal Hope Hospital, the sign said. "All sorts of things that shouldn't be going on in a twenty-first century earth hospital." He really needed to get in there. "Rose?" he asked with his most charming smile, "would you be up for a little undercover investigation?"

* * *

"But why can't we just walk in and wander around?" Rose asked him, while the Doctor searched through various drawers and cupboards on the TARDIS. "A little psychic paper, and we could be doctors, or health inspectors, or anythin'."

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked, closing yet another drawer in frustration. Where did he put them? "Besides, the last thing we want to be is authority figures. Whatever's going on in that hospital, we need to be as inconspicuous as possible."

"You?" she laughed. "Inconspicuous?"

"A-ha!" he shouted, pulling two plain, gold rings from a cupboard. He turned her Rose, and watched as the laughter died instantly on her lips. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind, and momentarily regretted this ploy when hurt briefly flashed across her face.

However, it was quickly concealed, and she asked casually, "Bio-dampers?"

"Naw, just wedding rings," the Doctor answered. "Well, I say wedding rings, they're actually just plain, ordinary rings, but they should do the trick, don't you think?"

To his disappointment, her face was a perfect mask as she nodded. He had been hoping to get more of a reaction than that. How was a guy - even if he was a Time Lord - supposed to work up the nerve to propose, if she was getting as good as he was at hiding feelings?

"So," he said, taking her hand and slipping a ring into place, "Mr. and Mrs. John Smith check into Royal Hope Hospital." He let her hand go, watching her stare at the band, while he put on his own ring. "Poor Mrs. Smith is suffering from mysterious abdominal pains, and just has to be admitted for observation."

"I get to be the sick one?" Rose asked. "Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"Well," said the Doctor, hands in pockets, really wishing this had gone better, "I'd do it, but it might make us a tad bit conspicuous. Two hearts and all."

"Good thing you've got me, then," Rose told him, a bit of a smile peeking through at last.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. "Oh, definitely," he said. More than you know. "So," he said, strolling out into the corridor, "you go pack an overnight bag, and I'll move us a bit closer to the hospital."

"Right, Mr. Smith," she answered, heading off to her room.

"See you in a few, Mrs. Smith," he replied, turning toward the console room.

* * *

Rose had to admit, being the "sick" one wasn't so bad, after all; not when she wasn't really in any pain, but still had the Doctor doting upon her. Her stomach had done little flips every time he'd called her his wife, or "sweetheart", or "honey", or any of the other endearments he'd pulled out for the occasion, even if it was all just pretend. He'd stayed with her the entire time, even as she slept, limiting his investigation to checking readings on the sonic screwdriver, and eavesdropping on passing orderlies. He had just offered to read her a story, when the consultant she'd seen briefly when she'd been admitted the previous afternoon walked in through the parted curtains around her bed, followed by a gaggle of - presumably - medical students.

"Now then, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a very good morning to you," he greeted, politely if a bit distantly. "How are you today?" he asked Rose.

"Oh, ya know," she answered. "Still a bit under the weather."

"Rose Smith," he said, turning to the students, "admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Jones, why don't you see what you can find?" He addressed this last to the young woman closest to Rose's bed. "Amaze me," he told her, with obvious sarcasm.

The woman bent down to take Rose's wrist, timing her pulse. She spoke quietly to Rose as she stared at her wristwatch. "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?"

What? "Outside?" Rose asked.

"On Chancery Street this morning," the woman said. "Your husband came up to me and took his tie off."

"Really?" asked the Doctor from his chair on the opposite side of Rose's bed. "What did I do that for?" Apparently, Rose wasn't the only one at a loss.

"I don't know, you just did," Jones answered. "Then the two of you went off, laughing."

"Not me," the Doctor denied. "I was here, with Rose. Haven't left her side. You can ask her - ask the nurses."

"Well, that's weird, 'cause it looked like you. Have you got a brother?" she asked.

Rose bit her lip, but the Doctor took it in stride.

"No, not anymore. Just me," he told her.

The consultant interrupted, "As time passes, and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones."

"Right. Sorry," said the woman, Miss Jones, straightening. "Any chance you're pregnant?" she asked.

"No!" answered Rose and the Doctor together. Rose could feel her blush, as the woman looked between the two of them with a raised eyebrow.

The consultant wasn't nearly as curious. "You rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart, which clearly notes the negative pregnancy test," he said, reaching for the chart from the end of Rose's bed. He dropped it when he received a strong shock of static electricity.

"That happened to me this morning," said Jones.

"I had the same thing on the door handle," said a man in the group.

"And me, on the lift," put in another woman.

"That's only to be expected," dismissed the consultant. "There's a thunderstorm moving in, and lightning is a form of static electricity. As was first proven by . . . anyone?"

"Benjamin Franklin," chimed in the Doctor.

"Correct!" the consultant replied, and Rose could tell he wasn't sure whether to be impressed, or angry that he'd been upstaged.

"My mate Ben," the Doctor went on. "That was a day and a half -"

Rose cleared her throat loudly, with a pointed glare at the Doctor.

"Yup," the Doctor amended, swallowing, "Benjamin F. Tyler. Mate of mine. Named after Mr. Franklin . . . ."

"Quite," said the consultant, losing interest. Gee, nice save, thought Rose, with a mental shake of her head.

"But about Mrs. Smith," Jones interjected. "The pregnancy test only works after the first couple of weeks. She could be early on and still suffer symptoms."

Rose couldn't help her laugh. "Not a chance," she said. At the confused looks she received, she composed herself and said, "Um, _John_ here's been away."

"Business trip," took up the Doctor. "Yup, been away for months and months. Only just got back last night."

"Yeah, we were gonna go out to dinner, but I wasn't feelin' well," Rose explained, but it seemed their time was up, and the consultant turned to lead his little group away.

"Moving on. And next we have . . . ."

As the curtains fell closed behind him, Rose turned to meet the Doctor's rather startled and uncomfortable expression. A moment later, and they were both fighting to contain their laughter.

* * *

_To be continued._


	2. On the Moon With Judoon

Chapter 2, On the Moon With Judoon

The Doctor put his sonic screwdriver back into his pocket with a frown.

"Still nothing?" Rose asked, lying in the hospital bed in her pajamas, picking at the lunch she'd been brought.

"Well," said the Doctor, scratching his neck, "static electricity seems to be building up, but I can't pick up any other readings. It might just be the storm, like the man said." He thought a bit, listening to the rain against the windows. "Plasma coils are sort of like capacitors," he went on, "but a capacitor by itself doesn't do anything. There should be some other technology at work, but I can't--"

The Doctor was knocked out of his chair as the entire building shook. Rose only just managed to stay in the bed.

"I think you'd better get dressed," said the Doctor from the floor, pulling her overnight bag out from under his chair and tossing it to her.

Rose just stared at him as he climbed to his feet.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, turn around or somethin'."

"Ah, yes," he said, doing just that, studying the curtains while she dressed.

--

The Doctor peeked out through the curtains while Rose changed behind him. There was quite a bit of hysteria, patients out of bed, trying to find out what had happened, the staff either trying to calm them, or panicking themselves.

"What's goin' on? asked Rose.

"It looks . . . like we're on the moon," he said, seeing the earth and a bit of the lunar landscape through the windows across from them.

"How can we be on the moon?!" hissed Rose, trying to keep her voice down.

"Oh, a number of different ways, but I'm thinking, might be an H2O scoop?"

Miss Jones, from earlier, strode into the room. "All right, everyone back to bed," she said, with a good try at an authoritative voice. "We've got an emergency, but we'll sort it out." She strode up to the darkened window, one of the other medical students sobbing in her wake.

The Doctor closed the curtain. "About done?" he asked Rose, without turning around.

"Yeah, can ya just help me here? It's stuck," she said.

He turned, swallowing, expecting to find her half dressed, struggling with a caught zipper. He barely suppressed the sigh of disappointment when he saw that she was, indeed, working on a zipper--it was just the zipper on her bag.

"Right, here we are," he said, producing the sonic screwdriver, quickly freeing the fabric and closing the zip.

"Thanks," she said, tossing the bag into his empty chair.

A terrified voice gained their attention. "Don't! We'll lose all the air!"

The Doctor and Rose peeked through the curtains, watching as Miss Jones hovered by the window latch.

"But they're not exactly air tight," she argued with her friend. "If the air was going to get sucked out, it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come?"

Rose smiled at the Doctor. "A bit clever, that one," she said.

The Doctor nodded and he threw back the curtains fully, taking her hand as he strode out into the room. "Very good point! Brilliant, in fact," he commended the medical student. "What was your name?"

"Martha," she answered.

"And it was Jones, wasn't it?" he asked. She nodded. "Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?"

"We can't be!" wailed the distraught woman.

"We are," said Rose.

"Obviously," said the Doctor, nodding to Rose, "so don't waste my time," he told the woman. "Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or . . . ."

"By the patients' lounge, yeah," Martha answered.

"Fancy going out?" he asked, looking between Rose and Martha.

"What're we waitin' for?" asked Rose.

"Okay," said Martha, slightly hesitantly.

"We might die," the Doctor said to her, dramatically.

"We might not," countered Martha, more confidently.

"Good!" he announced. "C'mon--not her," he said, nodding to the weeping woman. "She'd hold us up."

--

The Doctor swung the balcony doors open, and Rose watched as he stepped out, then followed with Martha.

"We've got air!" Martha said. "How does that work?"

"Just be glad it does," said the Doctor, leaning against the balcony railing.

Rose leaned next to him, Martha standing on her other side, looking out over the moonscape.

"I've got a party tonight," Martha said. "It's my brother's twenty-first. My mother's going to be really . . . really . . . ."

"You okay?" asked Rose, looking at her.

"Yeah," she said, a bit breathlessly.

"Ya Sure?" Rose asked again.

"Yeah," Martha answered.

"Want to go back in?" the Doctor offered.

"No way," Martha said, shaking her head. "I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same--it's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," said Rose, squeezing the Doctor's hand.

"How many people want to go to the moon?" continued Martha. "And here we are!"

"Standing in the earthlight," observed the Doctor.

"What do you think happened?" Martha asked.

"What do you think?" the Doctor shot back.

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be," Martha answered. "I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas," Rose couldn't help but smile, remembering her adventures with the Doctor. "Those Cybermen things," Martha went on, and Rose immediately sobered. "I had a cousin, Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home."

"I'm sorry," said Rose, thinking of her own family, gone but safe. She thought of how close she'd come to losing the Doctor.

"Yeah," Martha said, quietly.

"We were there," the Doctor said. "In the battle." Rose looked at him, and noticed he seemed particularly serious, looking intently across at Martha.

"I promise you, Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Martha went on, "we will find a way out. If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

**"**It's not Smith," the Doctor said. "That's not our real name."

"Who are you, then?" Martha asked.

"Rose Tyler," Rose said, holding out her hand as she introduced herself. Martha took it politely.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said.

"Me too, if I can pass my exams," Martha laughed. "What is it, then, Doctor Tyler?"

"Um, no. We're not actually married," he explained. "It's just the Doctor."

"How do you mean, just the Doctor?" Martha asked.

"Just, 'the Doctor'," he and Rose answered together.

"What, people call you 'the Doctor'?"

"Yeah," he said, as if stating the obvious.

"Well, I'm not," Martha answered to Rose's amusement. "As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title."

Rose turned to the Doctor, smiling, ready to see how he'd tackle that challenge.

He pouted at Rose, while Martha was looking out at the surface of the moon. "Well, I'd better make a start, then," he said, giving Rose's hand a squeeze before letting go to search around the balcony. "Let's have a look." He picked up a pebble, throwing off the balcony. It passed through a barrier of some kind, several feet out from the hospital. "There must be some sort of force field keeping the air in."

"If that's like a bubble," said Martha, "sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

"How many people in this hospital?" asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, a thousand?" said Martha.

"One thousand people. Suffocating," said the Doctor.

"Why would anyone do that?" asked Rose.

"Head's up!" he said. "Ask them yourself."

Rose looked up to see several spaceships, landing a short distance from the building. The occupants disembarked, marching in orderly lines towards the hospital

"Aliens," breathed Martha. "That's aliens. Real, proper aliens."

"Judoon," said the Doctor. After a moment, he suddenly turned and made to leave the balcony. "Let's go have a better look, shall we?"

--

To be continued.


	3. Investigation

Chapter 3, Investigation

Martha guided the Doctor and Rose through the hospital, making their way to the second floor mezzanine, overlooking the lobby.

Rose watched as the lead space-rhino, or Judoon, ordered the cataloguing of all "suspects".

The Doctor, as usual, was easily distracted. "Oh, look down there, you've got a little shop," he said to Martha. "I like a little shop--"

"Will you quit it with the shops?" Rose interrupted him. "What are Judoon?"

"Galactic police," he answered. "Well, police for hire. More like interplanetary thugs."

"And they brought us to the moon?" asked Martha.

"Neutral territory," the Doctor answered. "According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the earth, and they isolated us. That rain? Lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop."

"What's that about 'galactic law'?" asked Martha, smiling. "Where'd you get that from?" Then, "If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?"

"No," said the Doctor. "But I like that," he said, glancing at Rose. He turned back to Martha. "Good thinking. No, it's more simple. They're making a catalogue. It means they're after something non-human, which is very bad news for me."

"So, let's not just sit here," said Rose.

"Why?" asked Martha. Rose pointed at the Doctor. "Oh, you're kidding me," she said. Rose shook her head, but the Doctor just looked at her. "Don't be ridiculous. Stop looking at me like that."

The Doctor took Rose's hand, with one last glance down into the lobby. "Come on, then," he said, moving deeper into the hospital. "Martha, I need a computer, access to the hospital's records."

"This way," she said, turning a corner.

--

The Doctor went to work examining the computer with his sonic screwdriver, while Rose continued picking through the paper files. The door opened, and Martha came into the room.

"They've reached third floor," she told them. "What's that thing?" she asked, watching the Doctor work.

"Sonic screwdriver," answered Rose, moving to the next file cabinet.

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly--" replied Martha.

"No, really, it is," said the Doctor, pausing in his work. "It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. Look," he said, holding it up briefly.

"What else have you got?" asked Martha. "A laser spanner?"

"I did, but it was stolen by Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman," he answered absently. Rose looked up as he hit the monitor. "Oh, this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down. Judoon platoon upon the moon," he muttered to himself. "'Cause we were just walking past, I swear. We stopped for chips; I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, I wasn't; but I noticed these plasma coils around the hospital--and that lightning, that's plasma coils," he explained, mid-rant, "been building up for two days now. So we checked in. I thought something was going on inside, it turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

"But what were they looking for?" asked Martha.

"Something that looks human, but isn't," he answered.

"Like you. Apparently," Martha replied.

It was obvious to Rose she still didn't believe the Doctor was an alien. Something occurred to her then. "Ya don't think they're after you?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"No, something in the hospital," he answered.

"You're in the hospital," Rose countered with a grin.

"Something that's been in the hospital, long enough for them to set this all up," he corrected, smiling, then frowned as he resumed his battle with the computer.

"Haven't they got a photo?" Martha asked.

"Might be a shape-changer," he said distractedly.

"Whatever it is," Rose asked, "can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?"

The Doctor shook his head. "If they declare the hospital guilty of harboring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution."

"All of us?" asked Martha.

"Oh yes. If I can find this thing first--" the computer screen flickered strangely, and the Doctor cried out in frustration, causing Rose to drop a stack of files in surprise. "Oh! Just--they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records," he said, pulling his hair. "Oh, that's clever."

"What are we looking for?" Martha asked him.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, sitting back in his chair. "Any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms." He refocused on the computer. "Maybe there's a back-up."

"Just keep working," Martha told them. "I'll go ask Mr. Stoker; he might know." She left quickly, letting the door slam shut behind her.

"Whaddya think?" Rose asked him.

"About what?" he asked, glancing at her.

"Martha," she told him. "Handlin' herself pretty well, under the circumstances," she said, moving on to the records from five days previous.

"She still doesn't believe I'm an alien," he said.

"I didn't 'til I saw the TARDIS," she replied.

"Yeah, alright, definite potent--YES!" he exclaimed! "Backup restored," he smiled at her, searching through the computer records.

"That mean I'm done with the paper cuts over here?" Rose asked him. She walked over to watch as he worked.

Typing with one hand, he reached over and picked up the hand Rose had rested on the desk closest to him, kissing her fingertips. "So sorry," he said, all the while watching the screen.

Rose bit her lip as he released her, and tried very hard not to think about returning the favor as he continued the search.

"Got her!" he said at last. "Least, I think this is her. Finnegan, Florence. Came in five days ago, unexplained dizziness, no sign of trauma, been under observation since. Martha's Mr. Stoker diagnosed it as salt deficiency, recommended diet, blah, blah, blah. Salt deficiency," he murmured. "Salt deficiency. Anyway, let's get Martha; see if we can't track Ms. Finnegan down."

They left the records room hand in hand, looking for Mr. Stoker's office.

--

To be continued.


	4. XRays and Genetic Xfers

Chapter 4, X-Rays and Genetic X-fers

"This way!" Rose shouted.

She turned the corner so sharply that the Doctor nearly careened into the wall, thanks to holding her hand so tightly. As they ran towards Stoker's office, the Doctor spotted Martha enter the corridor ahead of them, and start in their direction. "I've restored the back-up--" he began, once she was within earshot.

"I found her," Martha said, catching her breath as she met them.

"You what?" the Doctor asked. Then, he noticed the Slab pursuing her. "Run!" he said, reaching out his free hand to take Martha's, and leading her and Rose down the nearest staircase.

Unfortunately, the Judoon were coming up the staircase.

The Doctor dodged out of a doorway on the fourth floor, pulling Rose with him and letting Martha follow as she was able. He followed the signs, straight into Radiology, slamming and sonic'ing the door closed, just as the Slab caught up to them.

"Get behind the screen," he told Rose and Martha. "When I say 'now', press the button," he said, moving to the X-ray equipment.

"I don't know which one!" Martha told him.

"Find out!" he replied, setting to work on the machinery with his sonic screwdriver.

The Slab was throwing itself against the door, and the hinges were beginning to give way. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rose and Martha rifling through manuals and searching over the equipment behind the partition, and he prayed they'd found the right controls. He jammed the sonic between the necessary components just as the door came crashing in. "Now!" he shouted, and the room was flooded with radiation.

The Slab fell, motionless.

"What did you do?" asked Rose from behind the screen.

"Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead," he answered.

"Isn't that likely to kill you?" asked Martha.

"Nah, it's only radiation," said the Doctor. "We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you to come out, I've absorbed it all," he told them. "All I need to do is expel it."

He focused, bouncing and hopping, forcing the radiation from his system. "If I concentrate," he explained as the women joined him, "I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe. Here we go, here we go, easy does it . . . ." He shook his foot vigorously. "Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out, ah, ah, ah, ah. It is, it is, it is, it is, it is hot. Ah - hold on--" He slipped his shoe and sock off together, and tossed them into the bin. "Done."

"You're completely mad," Martha said, in shock.

"Right. I look daft with one shoe." He slipped the right shoe off and chucked it in with the first. He wiggled his toes on the cool floor. "Barefoot on the moon!" he said, smiling.

"She's right," said Rose. "You _are_ completely mad."

She looked so adorable, grinning at him while trying to look serious, that he walked right up to her and kissed her on the forehead.

Martha had moved over to the Slab. "So what is that thing?" she asked. "And where's it from? The planet Zovirax?"

"It's just a Slab," he said, he and Rose moving to join her. "They're called 'Slabs'. Basic slave drones, see?" He knocked on the torso. "Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish."

"It came with that woman, Mrs. Finnegan," Martha said. "It was working for her. Just like a servant."

"What did I tell you? Finnegan," the Doctor said to Rose, as he got up to retrieve his sonic screwdriver from the X-ray machine. He pulled it out of the device, and looked at it in shock. "My sonic screwdriver," he said, looking at the charred, disfigured tool he held in his hand. Martha was talking, he noted absently, but, "My sonic screwdriver!" he found himself repeating, completely at a loss. Rose was patting him on the arm. "I loved my sonic screwdriver!" he said to her, holding the remains out for her to see.

"Sorry?" said Rose.

"Doctor!" Martha shouted, snapping him out of it.

"Sorry." He tossed the screwdriver across the room and took Rose's hand. Then he realized. "You called me 'Doctor'!" he said, smiling.

"Anyway!" Martha went on, "Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr. Stoker's blood."

"Funny time to take a snack," he replied. "You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless--no. Yes, that's it! Wait a minute. Yes! Shape-changer," he said, "Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it! If she can assimilate Mr. Stoker's blood, mimic the morphology, she can register as human. We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!" he said, as he led the way back out into the corridor.

--

The Doctor watched a Slab walk down the hallway, past the water cooler behind which he, Rose, and Martha were hiding.

"That's the thing about Slabs," he said as it rounded a corner. "They always travel in pairs."

"Like you?" asked Martha.

"What about me?" asked the Doctor, looking back at her.

"The two of you. Said you're not married; what are you? Outer-space crime-fighting partners or somethin'?"

Rose laughed quietly. "Not quite," she said.

The Doctor just shook his head. "Humans. We're stuck on the moon, running out of air, with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions. Come on," he said, moving out into the hallway.

"I like that. 'Humans'," Martha said as they walked. "I'm still not convinced you're an alien."

As he turned the corner, the Doctor came face to face with a Judoon, who promptly shone a bright blue light in his face. "Non-human," the Judoon declared.

"Oh my God, you really are!" Martha exclaimed.

"And again!" shouted the Doctor, as they turned and fled down a connecting corridor.

The Judoon were shooting at them as they ran, but they found the staircase and managed to get to the next floor safely.

"They've done this floor," the Doctor said, looking around at the catalogued people lining the corridor. "Come on. The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already. . . if we're lucky."

Martha stopped by the medical student whom they'd left, weeping, earlier. She was administering oxygen to a patient. "How much oxygen is there?" Martha asked.

"Not enough for all these people. We're going to run out," the woman answered.

"How are you feeling?" the Doctor asked Rose and Martha. "Are you all right?"

"I'm running on adrenaline," Martha said.

Rose nodded. "Welcome to my world," she said, smiling.

"What about the Judoon?" asked Martha.

"Ah, great big lung reserves, it won't slow them down," the Doctor answered. He looked around, trying to regain his bearings. "Where's Mr. Stoker's office?" he asked.

"It's this way," said Martha, taking the lead.

--

Martha opened the door to the office, the Doctor and Rose following behind her. "She's gone!" Martha exclaimed, looking around the room. "She was here."

The Doctor moved over to Mr. Stoker, examining him. "Drained him dry," he said, "every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore."

"What's she doing on earth, d'ya think?" Rose asked.

"Hiding; on the run, like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro," he said, getting to his feet with a sigh. "What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on," he said, making for the door.

"Wait a minute," said Martha. She bent down by Mr. Stoker and closed his eyes.

The trio walked back out into the hallway, the Doctor racking his brains. "Think, think, think," he said aloud. "If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" The MRI sign suddenly caught his eye, and everything clicked into place. "Aah. She's as clever as me," he said. "Almost," he couldn't help but add.

Judoon voices echoed through the corridor. "Find the non-human. Execute!"

The Doctor turned quickly to Rose, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Stay here," he pleaded, "I need time. You're going to have to hold them up."

"How do I do that?" she asked.

The Doctor smiled. "Confuse their scans with a bit of alien DNA," he said, then kissed her.

"Is this really the time for a snog?" asked Martha.

The Doctor broke away, and looked at Martha sternly, still cradling Rose's head. "That," he said, "was a genetic transfer that could save a thousand lives."

"Ah," said Rose, licking her lips.

He kissed her again. Quite thoroughly.

"And that?" asked Martha, once they'd parted.

"That was a snog," he answered, running off towards the MRI. "Coming, Martha?" he asked over his shoulder.

--

To be continued.


	5. Saving the World

Chapter 5, Saving the World

Sure enough, Florence Finnegan and her remaining Slab were inside the MRI room. The Doctor turned away from the window in the door, to whisper his instructions to Martha.

"Alright," he told her, "she's assimilated Mr. Stoker's blood, so if we brought the Judoon in now, she'd register as human. But, if I can get her to assimilate _my_ blood, she'll register as alien and they'll do a detailed scan."

"Assimilate--but she'll kill you!" Martha objected.

How to put this, thought the Doctor. "I can slow my bloodflow, stop my pulse, once she's gotten enough to do the job. She won't be able to drink me dry."

"Your heart still won't be beating," Martha observed. "Won't that kill you anyway?"

"Well," said the Doctor, "that's why it's your job to bring the Judoon as soon as you see me pass out. Got it?"

"If you're sure--"

"I'm sure," he said firmly, then slipped in through the door. It should work. And if it didn't, at least this time Rose knew he could regenerate.

And he'd gotten to kiss her.

Florence was working at the MRI machine while her Slab stood guard.

"Have you seen?" the Doctor asked her, gesturing towards the hallway, putting on his best stupid ape act. "There are these things, these great big space rhino things, I mean rhinos from space. And we're on the moon. Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon. And I only came in for my bunions, look," he said, showing her his feet. "They're alright now, perfectly good treatment. I said to my wife, I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon! And did I mention the rhinos?"

"Hold him!" Florence ordered. The Slab did just that.

--

The Judoon rounded the corner, entering the corridor where Rose stood, waiting for them.

"Find the non-human," the lead Judoon ordered. "Execute!"

Rose took a deep breath. "Now, listen," she said, "I know who you're looking for. She's this woman, a plasmavore. She calls herself Florence Finnegan."

The Judoon examined her with his blue light scanner thing. "Human," he reported, "with non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed. Authorize full scan." A quick switch and he continued the scan. "What are you? What are you?" he said as he awaited the reading.

After a seeming eternity, the Judoon marked an "X" on Rose's hand.

"Confirmed: human," he announced. "Traces of facial contact with non-human." Rose grinned, biting her lip. "Continue the search." He handed Rose some sort of filmy paper thing. "You will need this," he told her.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"Compensation," he told her, as he strode off with his troop.

She tossed the paper over her shoulder, and ran to find the Doctor. Before she'd gotten far, she heard Martha yelling from up ahead, where the Judoon had preceded her.

"Judoon!" Martha called. "Judoon, this way, over here! I've got the alien!"

Rose met her in the hallway, as the Judoon filed into the MRI room. "Where is he?" she asked. "Where's the Doctor?"

"In there with Miss Finnegan," said Martha, worriedly.

Rose moved to the doorway, in time to see the Judoon scan the Doctor.

"Confirmation: deceased," he reported.

"No, he can't be!" yelled Rose, running towards him. The Judoon held her back. "Let me through! Let me see him!"

"Stop. Case closed," the Judoon proclaimed.

"But it was her," said Martha, pushing into the room and pointing at Florence. "She killed him. She did it. She _murdered_ him!"

"The Judoon have no authority over human crime."

"But she's not human," said Rose, struggling against the Judoon's grip, watching the Doctor, hoping for some sign of life despite their scans.

"Oh, but I am," Florence taunted, holding up her marked hand. "I've been catalogued."

"But she's not!" yelled Martha. "She assimil--wait a minute," she said, looking at Florence. "You drank his blood. The Doctor's blood." She grabbed a scanner from the Judoon.

"Oh, alright. Scan all you like," said Florence, confidently.

"Non-human," reported the Judoon, observing the scan results.

"What?" asked Florence, shocked.

"Confirm analysis," ordered the Judoon, increasing the scan.

"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely," Florence argued. "I'm human. I'm as human as they come."

"He gave his life so they'd find you," said Martha quietly.

Rose didn't want to hear it. It sounded so much like the kind of thing the Doctor would do, it made the situation seem more real.

"Confirmed: Plasmavore," declared the Judoon. "I charge you with the crime of murdering the princess of Patrival Regency Nine."

"She deserved it!" Florence spat. "Those pink cheeks, and those blonde curls, and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."

"Do you confess?" asked the Judoon.

"Confess? I'm proud of it! Slab!" she ordered, "Stop them!"

Rose was jostled aside, but still held firmly, as the Judoon shot and disintegrated the Slab. Florence used the distraction to hurry over to the MRI console.

"Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution," proclaimed the Judoon.

Rose saw the "MAGNETIC OVERLOAD" warning sign illuminate.

Florence continued her gloating. "Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!"

The Judoon fired through the partition, and she disintegrated.

"Case closed," declared the lead Judoon, again.

Rose was finally released, and she rushed over to the Doctor. He wasn't breathing, and she couldn't find a pulse. "C'mon," she begged, hands on his cheeks, tears blurring her vision, "breathe, or regenerate, or somethin'!"

Martha was still arguing with the Judoon about the MRI machine, but Rose was hardly listening. Finally, Martha shouted at the retreating Judoon, "You can't go. That thing's going to explode and it's all your fault!"

All of a sudden, Martha was next to Rose, a comforting hand on her back. "He can't be dead," Rose cried, looking up at her.

"Look," Martha told her, "before he came in here, he told me he could stop his heart, so that Miss Finnegan couldn't kill him." As she spoke, she was gently moving Rose back from the Doctor, then kneeling at his side. "I might be able to get his heart going again, okay?"

Rose nodded. "Please," she whispered.

"Okay, but I need you to try and see what she did to the scanner, alright? It's overloading or something." With that, Martha positioned her hands over the Doctor's chest to begin CPR.

"Hearts!" Rose said, reaching out to stop Martha. Rose stood up, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "He's got two hearts, one on each side."

"Two hearts," Martha said with obvious disbelief, but repositioned her hands. "Here?" she asked.

Rose nodded, then moved away to the MRI, while Martha went to work.

The scanner controls were a mess, reminiscent of the jerry rigged nature of the TARDIS console. Rose tried to block out Martha's "One, two, three, four, five. One, two . . ." as she searched for a manual or something to make sense of the tangle of wires in front of her. It was getting harder to think, and it wasn't just her grief clouding her mind. She realized she was getting short of oxygen.

Just then, someone grabbed her shoulder, and she turned to see the Doctor, barely supporting himself between her and the MRI console. "Doctor!" she screamed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Help . . . Martha," he panted. "I'll . . . fix . . . this."

Rose reluctantly let him go, and moved back out into the room. Martha was sprawled, unconscious, where the Doctor had been lying. She was still breathing, so Rose propped her legs up, and groggily searched the room, hoping to find some oxygen.

To her amazement and relief, there was a small tank just beside the MRI machine. She took a breath, then brought it over to Martha, letting her have two breaths to every one she took. After all, Rose thought, Martha was the one who'd worked herself into unconsciousness, saving the Doctor.

Rose felt her own head clearing, just as Martha's eyes fluttered open. "Thanks," Martha muttered after her next breath of oxygen.

"Thank _you_," Rose told her, helping her when Martha made to sit up. "I'm gonna take this to the Doctor, alright?" Rose asked, indicating the oxygen tank.

Martha slowly nodded.

The Doctor emerged from behind the partition, just as Rose turned to him. The machine had ceased humming and sparking, and Rose could only assume he'd succeeded. She put the oxygen mask to his face, and he fell to his knees, clutching at it. After a few, deep breaths, the Doctor pulled Rose to him, in a one-armed hug.

Once he was able, they stood and returned to Martha. They helped her up, and Rose and Martha continued to share the oxygen between them as they headed back out into the corridor and through the hospital to the balcony. Rose even managed to get the Doctor to take an extra breath or two on the way.

The Doctor was supporting them, Martha on his left, Rose on his right, as they stood watching the Judoon ships depart. "Come on, come on, come on," he pleaded. "Come on, Judoon, reverse it."

To Rose's amazement, it started to rain.

"It's raining," said the Doctor, grinning his best grin. "It's raining on the moon!" He kissed Rose's hair, just as they were enveloped in a flash of blinding white light.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by London, and daylight, and hundreds of onlookers and emergency workers.

--

To be continued.


	6. Seeing the Universe

Chapter 6, Seeing the Universe

Martha listened to the news report, while she got dressed for Leo's party.

"Eyewitness reports from the Royal Hope Hospital continue to pour in," the announcer said, "and it all seems to be remarkably consistent." Martha had refused an interview, trying to keep up with Rose and the Doctor, but they'd somehow slipped away. "This from medical student Oliver Morganstern," the announcer continued.

"I was there. I saw it happen," he said, "and I feel uniquely privileged. I looked out at the surface of the moon." Martha smiled, remembering how amazing it had been, despite the terror. "I saw the earth, suspended in space, and it all just proves Mr. Saxon right. We're not alone in the universe. There's life out there: wild and extraordinary life."

Martha shook her head, wondering if she'd ever see that crazy pair of space travelers again.

--

Martha's Mum had finally snapped, so now they were all following an angry Annalise out of the party and into the street. The insults and indignant replies were flying mercilessly.

"Clive," Annalise complained to Martha's Dad, "that woman is disrespectin' me. She's never liked me."

"Oh, I can't think why," retorted Mum, "after you stole my husband."

"I was seduced," screeched Annalise, "I'm entirely innocent! Tell her, Clive!"

"And then she has a go at Martha," Mum continued, "practically accused her of making the whole thing up."

"Mum, I don't mind. Just leave it," Martha pleaded, but no one was even listening to her.

Back and forth she watched, helpless, until Annalise finally declared, "Oh, I'm never talkin' to your family again!" and stormed off into the night, Dad trailing after her. The rest of them followed soon after, leaving Martha alone on the sidewalk.

Glancing up the street, Martha was surprised to see Rose, smiling at her, and nodding for her to follow her into the alleyway.

Martha followed, turning the corner to find Rose and the Doctor, leaning against a blue police box.

"I went to the moon today," she said, coming up to them.

"A bit more peaceful than down here," commented the Doctor, looking towards the street.

"You never even told me who you are," Martha said.

"The Doctor and Rose," he answered, as if it were obvious.

"What sort of species?" Martha asked. "It's not every day I get to ask that."

"I'm human," said Rose, "from earth, London, just like you."

"And I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor answered.

"Right! Not pompous at all, then," Martha laughed.

He ignored the comment. "I just thought," he said, "since you saved my life, and I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing," he flipped the shiny new screwdriver in the air, with a smile at Rose, "you might fancy a trip."

Martha was shocked. "What, into space?"

"Well--" he began.

"I can't," Martha answered, her heart heavy at her own reply. "I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad--"

"Did he mention," put in Rose, "he can also travel in time?" Rose gave the Doctor a secretive kind of smile at that, which he returned.

"Get out of here," said Martha, convinced they were pulling her leg, just seeing how far they could push after the day's events.

"I can," insisted the Doctor.

"Come on now, that's going too far," Martha said.

"I'll prove it," he said, walking into the police box, Rose following in behind him.

Martha watched, amazed, as the box vanished in a mix of wind and an unearthly whooshing sound. She put her hand into the space where the box had sat, pulling it back just as the sound picked up again, and the box rematerialized.

The Doctor and Rose stepped out, the Doctor now dangling his tie from his finger. "Told you!" he said smugly.

"I know, but . . . that was this morning! But--did you--" They were smiling at her. "Oh, my God! You can travel in time!" she exclaimed. The Doctor put his tie back on. "But hold on," Martha asked, "if you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go into work?"

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," he told her seriously.

"Except for cheap tricks," added Rose.  
**  
**"And _that's_ your spaceship?" Martha asked, stepping up to the police box with a newfound respect.

"It's called the TARDIS," the Doctor told her. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

She touched it. "Your spaceship's made of wood," she told them. She looked around the back, seeing that it really was as shallow as it had seemed. "There's not much room. Aren't you two cozy?"

The Doctor pushed open the door. "Take a look," he told her.

Martha stepped inside, was confronted with a huge, domed room, and backed out again. "Oh, no, no," she muttered, circling the box. "But it's just a box," she said. "But it's huge! How does it do that? It's wood," she said, knocking on the outside. "It's like a box with that room just rammed in." She stepped inside, taking a few steps up the ramp. "It's bigger on the inside," she said, in awe.

"Is it?" the Doctor asked from behind her.

"I hadn't noticed," said Rose, walking past Martha, and up to the mushroom-like console in the center of the room.

Martha heard the doors close behind her, then the Doctor ran up to the console, next to Rose. "All right, then," he said, "let's get going."

"But," stammered Martha, her mind brimming with questions, "is there a crew? Like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?

"Just us," said Rose.

"Just the two of you?" Martha repeated.

"Well, sometimes we have guests," answered the Doctor. "Like you! Now, just one quick trip to say 'thanks', sound fair? Then you'll be back home before anybody knows you're gone."

Rose muttered something only the Doctor could hear.

"Sounds fair," Martha answered, walking up to the console.

"Well, then," said the Doctor, "close down the gravitic anomalizer," he moved a lever, "fire up the helmic regulator," he nodded to Rose and she operated another control as he walked behind her, "and finally . . . the hand brake," he said, releasing, well, a handbrake. "Ready?" he asked Martha, his hand poised on yet another lever.

"No," she said, honestly, but unable to keep from smiling.

"Off we go," he said, throwing the lever, causing the entire ship to pitch and shake. Rose let out a shriek that could have been surprise, but seemed more like delight, and the Doctor was thrown against the seats behind the console, before regaining his feet and holding on.

"Blimey, it's a bit bumpy!" Martha yelled, holding on to a bit of the console between Rose and the Doctor.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones," he said, ignoring the comment and offering his hand.

She shook it. "It's my pleasure, Mr. Smith," she said, since the pseudonym just seemed appropriate, somehow. "Mrs. Smith," she said, turning carefully to shake Rose's hand as well.

Yeah, they weren't "Smiths", Martha thought, or married, but they _were_ still wearing their rings.

--

The end :)

Tune in next time for "The Shakespeare Code" (Sorry, Gilari, another unimaginative title.)


End file.
